Megan Crafts Things

I make things, mostly sewing things, but sometimes other things. I talk about them, and post photos too. I also talk a lot about things I plan to make in the future, and this blog is a great way to keep track of all my failed endeavours.

Friday, 19 September 2014

I have made a move! Onwards and upwards. You can now find me at FuKiTu. The name came out of a joke I had with a friend about calling a clothing label Fluffy Kitten Tummies. It's not quite a clothing label, but I am planning on updating more (that perennial blog joke) and possibly moving my sewing to a shared studio. Anyhoo, go, look, admire, bookmark if the fancy takes you.

Sunday, 14 July 2013

I finished up the post and rail quilt I mentioned in my previous post last night. Have a stack of photos:

A better view of the backing fabric

Pinning the layers together in preparation for quilting (in my itsy bitsy lounge):

This is the first time I've had to piece batting for a quilt (the shop near my work had a tiny bit of woollen/cotton blend batting left when I went in). It's the first time I've used woollen batting before, and the lanolin smell reminded me of my mother's neglected spinning wheel from when I was a kid and of the sheep our neighbour used to herd across our driveway.

I'm really happy with how the finished product came out:

All prettied up with a bow:

As for my other projects on the go, I think I'm going to use the spare batting I have kicking around to fiiiinally get more of the cathederal window quilt underway. It's probably about half done now, so I think another couple of weekend's work will knock it out.

I also sort of threw in the towel with trying to hand quilt the entire rainbow quilt. I've had it sitting on my boyfriend's bed for the last month, and I've done bits and pieces of quilting whenever I went over but after seeing how quickly the baby quilt came together with machine quilting I decided to finish it off on machine this afternoon. It's a bit less than ideal trying to snuggle into a quilt covered in safety pins, and the colours (surprisingly) work well with the lime/purple colour scheme of his walls.

As you can see, my sewing table is very small and the quilt is very big. It's been quite pleasant having it draped across me while I work though, as Wellington has decided to sleet on everything.

Naturally when it came time to attach the binding George was committed to being a jerk helping

Finished photos due soon, when the quilt is actually finished (and when it's on a bed since my lounge is too tiny for a proper photo.) Of course, if the quilt lives at Bernie's house I'll need to make another one for my bed - I happened across some really richly coloured bedspreads from Urban Outfitters the other day, so now I'm thinking maybe a sea of greens or reds and oranges for my next full size quilt.

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

I got my latest parcel from Hawthorne Threads yesterday and was SO excited. I'm making a baby quilt (the one I mentioned in my last post) and I'm so glad the fabric arrived quickly. I got started cutting last night, and thought I'd show off the fabrics I've picked out before posting progress pics.

I'm making a basic post and rail design, nice and bright and in quite neutral colours (yellow, green and orange/red palattes). The design is inspired by this quilt from Red Pepper Quilts. Photos are from my phone, so some are a little funky colour wise, but:

Friday, 14 June 2013

So last November I started making this quilt top. It took slightly longer than I thought and I then folded it up and it lived on the end of my couch for about four months. I fiiiiinally had enough coin to buy the batting and backing fabric (it's a mammoth - 2.4m wide and almost 3m long, so batting wasn't cheap.) I went luxe-ish, nice cotton batting which I'm liking so far (similar to this: Warm Company Batting ), and has made for a really smooth quilt which rolls and folds well. Complicating things further was the fact that the quilt top is bigger than the open space in the biggest room in my house:

George helped a lot, of course.

So, once I had a quilt top I had to find a space large enough to lay it flat and baste together the layers of the quilt, prior to the actual quilting. My lovely boyfriend has a studio about 20 minutes walk from my house so one Sunday night we went there to spread out the quilt He took photos!

I also took a perspective shot, approximately 300 safety pins in:

I opted for the safety pin method of basting, essentially because I am quite lazy and because I'm hand tying the quilt so I don't need to worry about negotiating them with a machine. Speaking of, I think I have some latent masochistic tendancies because hand tying a quilt this size suddenly seems like not such a fabulous idea, 1/30th of the way in. BUT this this is cute as hell and I have it draped over me while I'm working so it isn't all bad.

In new project news, a friend is having a baby quite soon so I just went a little nuts on Hawthorne Fabrics again. I'm excited about working on a baby quilt, just because I'm keen to have something that comes together quickly. I'm also on the look out for a nice fabric to bind the giant rainbow quilt with, suggestions in the comments welcome.

Friday, 30 November 2012

Oops. It has been another Very Long Time since I updated. I am about to embark on a new quilt top project, but this one will be very simple. I got a collection of Amy Butler prints from Hawthorne Threads for my birthday back in October and told myself I wouldn't cut in to them until after my exams (in November.)
Well my exams are done now, and tonight is super simple quilt top night, as decreed by me, chief sewer in the house. I'm hoping to whip this (WIP this? Hahaha, I'm here all week, try the veal!) all together tonight and maybe even start the quilting tomorrow. My last WIP is on standby (the cathedral window quilt) because I ran out of batting. It's around halfway done, though and maybe I can finish it up in time to be a Christmas present. It deserves some new photos, at any rate.
The inspiration for tonight's quilt is this beauty. I love rainbows and big patterns and getting things done quickly because I am impatient. Ideal. See you in a few hours, blog.

Saturday, 11 August 2012

I'm back, with a few photos and a few good intentions. I'm working on a new quilt (aren't you surprised) and it's a long way from finished (the shock continues!!) I'm using black poplin as the frame for a basic cathedral window quilt - the finished squares are 17cmx17cm.

As you can see I'm still not a fan of little fussy patterns or pastel colours. I'm mixing designers like a mofo on this one too, so if it's going to trouble you to see some Amy Butler next to some hand dyed charm squares I picked up from a local seller then move along.
Last night was pretty productive, really, hampered only by my little friend trying to help me feed the fabric through the machine.